US services sector growth slowed in July, with the Institute for Supply Management's PMI gauge reading falling from 50.8 in June to 50.1, as companies face weakening demand and rising costs. The July reading is above the 50 threshold that signals growth, but the employment index fell to 46.4, indicating contraction in the labor force. The price paid index hit 69.9, the highest since late 2022.

Ferguson closed four acquisitions in the fourth quarter, bringing the total to nine for the company's fiscal 2025. The recent acquisitions, which include HPS Specialties, Ritchie Environmental Solutions, Manufactured Duct & Supply Co. and Water Resources, are expected to add around $300 million in annual revenue. The moves extend the industrial supplies distributor's reach across six customer groups and highlight its ongoing strategy of investing in businesses with strong talent, established relationships and specialized product offerings for water and air professionals.

Retail buyers are increasingly leveraging AI tools to navigate the challenges posed by changing trade policies, according to a Deloitte survey. Seventy-eight percent of surveyed buyers reported using AI-enabled tools to enhance their buying activities, with nearly three-quarters reporting AI use to manage shifting trade environments. Buyers are also placing holiday orders significantly earlier this year, with more than half of orders completed by the end of May, two months ahead of a year ago.

Tractor Supply is bolstering its last-mile delivery by hiring drivers and renting vehicles to handle more deliveries, particularly of bulky items, directly from its more than 2,300 US stores, as well as its distribution and mixing centers. The initiative is part of a push by the retailer to boost digital and business-to-business sales, addressing the challenges of delivering to the rural areas where third-party services are less effective and where the retailer already has stores.

The warehousing and fulfillment sector is navigating competing trends, as vacancy has climbed to 7.1%, but well-located, high-efficiency space is in high demand, according to an ITS Logistics report. The report says that ready-to-occupy, logistics-ready space can be challenging to find.

Some 76% of B2B marketers think AI will be more valuable for B2B than consumer marketing and they are most excited about being able to more accurately predict trends, improve data handling and create targeted, personalized video content, per this infographic from Madison Logic and The Harris Poll. In addition, 57% of B2B marketers are investing in AI tools to boost content creation, analytics and lead generation.

Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize business operations by enabling autonomous systems and hyper-personalization. Matt Domo, a co-founder of Amazon Web Services, advises leaders to invest in talent capable of rapid prototyping, prioritize proprietary data strategies, establish ethical guidelines early and foster a culture of prompt engineering. "Generative AI's future isn't a far-off idea; it's a swiftly advancing force transforming every sector," Domo writes. "Those leaders who grasp its direction and leverage its capabilities, backed by data and informed by strategic insights, will endure and excel."

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